Swinney urges Burnham to scrap windfall tax after BP announcement

Scotland’s First Minister has repeated calls for an end to the windfall tax on oil and gas after BP announced it was seeking to sell its North Sea operations.The firm announced on Friday its operations in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) would be “better positioned as part of another company”.First Minister John Swinney said the announcement “marks a time of real uncertainty for workers”, urging new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to scrap the energy profits levy.“The firm announced on Friday its operations in the UKCS would be “better positioned as part of another company,” he said in a post on X.“The Scottish Government will work closely with BP, trade unions and partners to understand the impact of the sale process and support workers.“Within our limited powers, we will do everything we can to protect Scottish jobs and ensure our offshore energy industry can thrive.“Westminster’s supertax on jobs is hurting Scotland, especially the north east.“The UK Government must scrap the Energy Profits Levy and urgently act to protect jobs.”But Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform UK Scotland, accused the First Minister of opposing new oil and gas in an effort to “burnish your green credentials”, before changing course in an effort to win voters in the north east of Scotland.Posting on X, Lord Offord said: “For years you opposed new oil & gas exploration to burnish your green credentials – right up until you noticed voters in the north east were abandoning you.“Now you blame the industry you were happy to drive away. Scotland reaps what you sowed.”New UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said she had made clear to the firm that workers and communities must be protected.“I’m in close contact with BP and have made clear that my priority is ensuring that the workers and local community are protected during this sale process,” she said,Miatta Fahnbulleh said her priority was protecting workers and communities (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA Wire“The North Sea is a vital national asset and we will take a pragmatic approach, recognising that oil and gas will be part of our energy mix for years to come.Read More“I’m focused on doing right by the workers in the North Sea who have powered this country for generations.”Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie blamed the decision on “Labour’s disastrous net-zero dogma” as he urged the Government to change course.“Andy Burnham should break with the past and do what the Conservatives have called for and immediately approve the Jackdaw and Rosebank sites and cancel their plans to ban new licences in the North Sea,” he said.“Only the Conservatives have a plan to get Britain drilling again by ending the licence ban, scrapping the energy profits levy paid for by cancelling net-zero projects, and securing high-skilled jobs for the future.”But Tessa Khan, the executive director of environmental charity Uplift, said the move recognised the “geological fact” the UKCS was declining.“It’s hard to take seriously the criticisms of parties that oversaw a decade of decline in the North Sea and who failed to create a coherent plan to reindustrialise the region,” she said.Ms Khan added: “In all that time, the efforts of both Westminster and Holyrood to transition workers have been wholly inadequate.“Oil companies make decisions based on the interests of their shareholders. With around 93% of the aging North Sea’s recoverable reserves already extracted, BP has logically decided there’s more money to be made elsewhere.“For politicians to pretend that oil and gas is now a path to growth and secure jobs is a denial of these facts and a betrayal of workers.”The UK Government, she said, must not “cave in to the demands of an oil industry seeking every last bit of profit from the North Sea before heading for the exit” as she called for a “coherent plan” and investment in new industries such as renewables.